Breeze Airways debuts at Tri-Cities Airport with first non-stop flight to Orlando

BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL) — A few dozen flyers in the Tri-Cities got the opportunity to escape this week’s winter weather for sunny Orlando on Breeze Airways’ inaugural flight at the Tri-Cities Airport.

The flight arrived at its gate at 6:35 p.m. and took off at 8:35 p.m.

Photo: TRI

The partnership between the airport and Breeze Airways has been seven years in the making since Tri-Cities Airport CEO Gene Cossey took his position.

Cossey said since he’s become CEO, he’s wanted to expand the airport’s flights and encourage residents to fly local rather than choose airports outside of the region.

“Tri-Cities and the region around us, we’re underserved,” he said. “We don’t have nearly enough airlines for the demand that we have. We’re out constantly trying to talk to airlines about adding flights here and adding destinations, adding capacity because it’s really what the people who live here need. And so we’re constantly working on that with the airlines, and it meets the need of tourism people coming into our area. It meets the needs of people being able to go out of the area.”

The Tri-Cities Airport enlisted the help of BRIDGE, an economic development agency, to raise $2 million for the minimum revenue guarantee required by the federal government.

“That took municipalities,” BRIDGE Executive Director John Rose said. “The owners of the airports, Bristol, Tennessee, Bristol, Virginia, Sullivan County, Washington County, Tennessee, Kingsport, Johnson City all participated, along with more than a dozen private companies.”

Boosting tourism

Cossey said the Tri-Cities Airport is working to market tourism in Northeast Tennessee at Orlando Airport.

He added he hopes the new non-stop flights add incentive for tourism.

“We work with the Northeast Tennessee Tourism Association to try to help them understand what’s happening at the airport and where the best places that people want to come in here, that we see numbers of people coming here, and they go do the marketing,” he said. “Everybody here wants to go to the beach. Everybody at the beach wants to come to the mountains, so it’s perfect for that synergy where people here who want to go to the beach can go, and people who want to come to the mountains have a beautiful place to come in.”

Rose said another incentive was boosting business in the region.

“It’s not just tourism,” he said. “This also supports businesses, and it lets us recruit talent to our region. It helps us retain talent in our region, and it makes us more attractive for businesses to locate here because we have direct flights to two international outlets, Dallas and Orlando.”

The flight experience

The debut flight was celebrated through a ribbon cutting, cake, and refreshments.

Passengers arriving on the Breeze Airways flight from Orlando were surprised by the Northeast Tennessee Tourism Association with regional snacks.

The Mazzaro family from Tampa was among the passengers on the flight. They came to Northeast Tennessee to go skiing at Sugar Mountain.

This was their second time flying the airway, and they said it was a breeze.

“We were looking at places to go, but saw it was a ten hours drive,” said Emily Mazarro. “We came across this flight and booked it. It was beautiful. It’s the second time we’ve flown Breeze Airways, and we loved it. Highly recommend.”

Sherry and Vernon Johnson are flying to Orlando for their grandson’s graduation. They say the new addition is convenient for them.

“It’s wonderful,” said Sherry Johnson. “Everybody’s been so friendly and nice. It was very easy coming in and getting out.”

The next Breeze Airways flight will be Dec. 15 to Washington, D.C.